Friday, August 26, 2016

Kumarakottam Temple, Kanchipuram – Kandapuranam

Kumarakottam Temple, Kanchipuram – Kandapuranam

Kachiyappar,
a Tamil and Sanskrit scholar, was the priest in the Kumarakottam Temple. He
composed the text Kandapuranam. The hall, the Kandapuranam Arangetra Mantapam (an outdoor pavilion) where Kachiyappar composed
the text still exists in the temple complex. Peacocks flock the premises even
now. Kachiyappar wrote the epic in six cantos comprising 10,346
stanzas.

It is
believed that the first line of the first stanza was written by Kachiappar’s
patron deity, Murugan himself. The god is also believed to have corrected the
100 stanzas written by the priest during the day. The poet took his composition
to the god and rehearsed it. Even now the priests in the temple are the
descendants of Kachiyappar.